My Gimpy Life Shoot: Day 5 (Final Day)

Today is the final day of principal photography. They still have a few pick up shots but they are using a skeleton crew (which does not include me). So today is my last day on set of My Gimpy Life season two.

We shot in Hollywood once again. Today was alot of waiting in the holding area with a handful of extras, including friends Aaron T, Aaron M, Dallas, Heather, Diane and Jessica. I got a few crew member interviews and also some of the special new cast members. Also Marissa Cuevas  returns as Teal's friend and is awesome as always.

I was excited for today as several of "special" new cast members were well known celebrates. First up was Mindy Sterling, she has over 140 credits to her name, but she's best known for Frau in Austin Powers movies.. she was super sweet, and gave a very good interview.

The next one was Mitch Silpa who has over 40 credits to his title, including Bridesmaid & Desperate Housewives. He too was great, very nice and gave me a great interview.

But my favorite celeb today was Geri Jewell, who played Geri in The Facts of Life. I was super excited to meet her since I'm a HUGE Facts of Life fan. I have to say she's still as funny and charming as ever. I got a great interview out of her about disabled actors in Hollywood and if it's gotten any better over her 30+ career in the industry.

I'm sad that the shoot is over but I can't wait to see how they put this season together... lot's of good stuff is coming your way. It was great seeing Teal and the gang of My Gimpy Life. I got some great interviews both with crew and cast and I can't wait to put these podcasts together and get them out for all to listen.

A special thanks to Teal for allowing me to be part of your Gimpy Life family. 

My Gimpy Life Shoot: Day 4

Today is our fourth day on set of My Gimpy Life Season Two. I picked up buddy Russell on my way to set. Today we spent the entire day in the Hollywood area at Gabe's house (he's the writer). Main cast was there today, Teal, Daryl (Brian), Teale and Brent as well as some special cast members (which it looks like they are keeping those guys as a surprise at the moment). There were several extras, friends Anne and Nicki as well as a new guy Sean. And I was also an extra for today. I can't give you the details but it's going to be pretty awesome and I can't wait to see the final product.

I got to interview Teale, Daryl and Brent as well as some crew members. These companioncasts are going to be chuck full of awesome behind the scenes information.

Tomorrow is our final day of shooting (though they are doing pick up shoots with a skeleton crew on Monday).

"Get Fit" Week 10

I knew this was going to be a rough week since I would be on set of My Gimpy Life. I am up at 7am and not in bed until midnight. No workouts and lots of tasty craft service. I was sure I was going to gain this week but I'm a extremely happy and surprised to say that I maintained. Weight myself this morning and I came in at 200lbs. That's a gain/loss of 0lbs from last week. It sucks that I can't seem to get below 200 but I am extremely happy that I didn't gain any weight. Let's hope with my next weight in I'll finally be below 200lbs.

Gravity - My Review

So I left the My Gimpy Life shoot at 5pm and had to be Universal Citywalk by 6pm to meet up with some friends. I got to our meeting location around 6:15 and was joined by Doug and Jes. Robert and Cait were running late so the three of us decided on a place to eat. We headed over to Tony Roma's as they have great food (but expensive) but we don't eat it that often. By the time we sat down and got our drinks Robert and Cait joined us. It was a nice dinner and by the time we were done our friend Dallas joined us.

After dinner we headed over to the theater to watch Gravity in IMAX 3D. And this was a true IMAX theater as there are only a few in the Los Angeles area. One great thing about this IMAX theater is that you can purchase assigned seating so there is no waiting in line to get a decent seat. We arrived at the theater around 8pm, as our movie was to start at 8:15pm. We made our way to our seats, which was middle, middle of the theater. Robert, Cait, Dallas and Myself sat together then we had two strangers sitting next to us and then Jes and Doug (who purchased there tickets a few days later then I did).

If you've been living under a rock and have no idea what Gravity is.. here is a brief synopsis: Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone - tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness.

I've seen a few clips from this movie and heard some rave reviews but I really didn't know much about it, which I was very happy about.

My Review: The movie starts with this beautiful 16 minute continuous shot, it's pretty breath taking. About 10 minutes in the disaster strikes and all hell brakes loose. The story is a simple one.. survival. The acting is incredible, I mean I'm a huge Sandra Bullock fan and she really shined in this movie. But the real star of this film is the cinematography, which is truly amazing. This movie runs one hour and 31 minutes and there isn't a single moment to stop and take a breath.

Before I saw this movie I heard some folks say how can they do 90 minutes of someone floating in space but they pull it off.. not only do they pull it off but they go above and beyond. This movie feels like it just flies by.

I spent the first 20 minutes of this film with my hand over my mouth, I was just in awe. I didn't realized until the credits start to role how tense my body was. Soon as those credits started to roll I would feel this release of energy and I could breath again. This was one of the most intense and I mean constantly intense movies that I have ever seen.

This was truly a movie going experience and I'm so glad I got to see it in true IMAX 3D.  I give Gravity a solid A and I hope to see it win or at least be nominated for some Academy Awards.

My Gimpy Life Shoot: Day 3

Day three of the shoot was out in Pasadena at someone's house. It was on this beautiful tree lined street. The house was old but incredible looking. It was a good day for me as I got to interview alot of the crew for my "behind the scenes" crew edition podcast.

No extras today.. it was all about Teal and Brent... also Daryl Crittenden returns as Brian, who I loved in season one and Daryl is just a cool guy so it was nice getting to hang out with him as well. 

I only stayed until 5pm as I had dinner and movie plans later in the evening. 

But overall it was another successful shoot day. Lot's of fun things are happening.

Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast Ep 21

Download from itunes http://bit.ly/itunesAlienNation Listen on Stitcher Radio http://app.stitcher.com/browse/feed/32281/episodes or Listen/ Get Direct Download http://Aliennationpodcast.com  

Show Notes

Brothers Kenny and Michael Mittleider review and discuss a short lived but very socially aware TV series from the late 80's early 90's ALIEN NATION. Each podcast we will review a single episode in sequential order starting with the Pilot. Will give you our thoughts on the episode as well as some fun behind the scenes information.

Today we cover Season 1, Episode 21 - The Touch
Directed by Harry Longstreet
Written by Steven Long Mitchell & Craig Van Sickle
Original air date April 30th 1990

Plot Summary: Cathy is reunited with a young boy she knew on the ship, but something terrible has happened to him. Cathy convinces George and Matt to look into this matter and what they find is terrifying. George and Susan begin looking for daycare for Vessna

More Babylon 5

After the Gimpy Life shoot I headed over to my buddy Robert's place for our weekly TV night. We continue our first time viewing of Babylon 5. Tonight we watched Season 2, episodes 14, 15 & 16.

First up S2 Ep14 "There All The Honor Lies"Sheridan kills a Minbari warrior in self-defense, but a Minbari witness to the incident claims it was not justified.

This was an okay episode. I didn't like how Delenn turned so quickly on Sheridan. But the overall out came was well done. There was a bit of humor in this episode with the Babylon 5 merchandise and Ivanova dealing with it and Londo insisting that they stop selling dolls in his likeness.The viewers knew it was a set up from the beginning, but for some reason Sheridan didn't see it and it was frustrating but then Garibaldi steps in and says exactly what the viewers are thinking that this was a set up... now they just have to prove it. I really enjoyed Lennier steppping up in this episode.

Next was S2 Ep15 "And Now For A Word" ISN films a segment on Babylon 5, right in the midst of an deadly conflict between the Narn Regime and the Centauri Republic.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this episode when it started as a news report but it turned out to be one of the better ones this season. It just goes to show you that the Centauri's are ruthless bullies. 

And our final episode of the evening was S2 Ep16 "In The Shadow of Z'Ha' Dum" Is John Sheridan above the law? His heart overrides his head when he illegally detains a visitor - Morden - who may know if Sheridan's wife, Anna, presumed dead on an ill-fated scientific exploration is still alive.

I had a hard time with Sheridan in this episode but WOW what an episode, they spilled a ton of information in this episode that I'm sure will be played out over the next few seasons.  We find out about the "first ones" and that Kosh and his race the Vorlons are the last of them. They are in for a huge battle. This episode definitely left me wanting more.. can't wait to continue this series.

It was a long but AWESOME day...

My Gimpy Life Shoot: Day 2

It's day two of My Gimpy Life season two shoot. Today we are in Hollywood at a local theater. I was super excited for today's shoot as I was going to see two of my favorite people from last season's shoot, Teale Sperling & Steven Dengler. 

I'm so happy that Teale is returning for another season. She's still as sweet and kind as she was in season one.. well the actor not the character :)

Steven returns as a co-executive producer this season and has a cameo role like he did last season. I always love my conversations with Steven. He is one of the most interesting people I know. 

I look forward to sharing both of their interviews with you guys.

To my surprise I got to meet, for the first time, Stephanie Thorpe. I've been a huge fan of hers for several years. I have been to several of her panels at cons and have always wanted to meet her in person and today was the day. She's as sweet and kind as I expected. I was fortunate enough to interview her as well for the companioncast and she has some awesome things on the horizon.

Like yesterday today was such a smooth shoot day. Everything went as planned and if it didn't we weren't aware of it. Line producer Allison is amazing and runs such a smooth ship. 

I got to see a few friends today who were extras, got to meet and interview a new cast member who was hilarious. 

The day just flew by and before I knew it, day two of My Gimpy Life season two shoot was over.

Random Geek Question: Cosplay

I posted another Random Geek Question on Facebook and Twitter... If you were to Cosplay, who would you cosplay as and why?

This wasn't a popular question as I only got a handful of responses. From Facebook my friend Olivia who is a huge cosplayer said that her dream cosplay would be Ariel from Little Mermaid but she would want to do a "real" tail, which means she wouldn't be able to walk.

On Twitter @TheMightyJerd tweeted -  Never cosplayed, but if I did, the only 2 I would attempt are: Daredevil (favorite superhero) or George Asakura from G-Force.

@thatonetechguy tweeted anything tron as I love the art style, also because I have to wear glasses I would say Gordon freeman from half-life.

My best bud @TheRobZone tweeted - Isaac Clarke, from Dead Space. Because his outfit in the first game is fantastic.

My friend @dougluberts answered with a non-answer - Too many possibilities! Too many wizards to cosplay! Not to mention Sith Lords, Disney characters, and other stuffs!

As for me well you all know I cosplay as a Hobbit (Frodo/Bilbo) but I'm working on a Samwise cosplay and a Dwarf (not sure which one yet). I have also cosplayed as a Hogwarts student and a member of Starfleet.

Thanks to those who answered this question.

What would you cosplay as?? Leave you comments below.

Episode 3 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Got home from today's My Gimpy Life shoot and had a few hours to kill before bed time so I worked out on my elliptical while watching episode 3 of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

This series continues to excited and impress me. I love the characters more and more each week. I think this is my most anticipated show on right now.. taking the place of Once Upon a Time, which I still love. Here's a quick synopsis of this weeks episode.

S.H.I.E.L.D. searches for one of its assets, Dr. Franklin Hall, who was kidnapped by his former research partner Ian Quinn. He wants to use Hall to take control over the planet's gravity. Skye attempts to infiltrate Quinn's mansion so that Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. team can rescue Hall.

This was a heavy Skye episode. She's not my favorite character but an interesting one. We still don't know where her allegiance lye. At the end of last weeks episode it looked like she is still working for Rising Tide and has successfully infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. But tonight's episode you were suppose to believe her loyalties were being questioned again but I knew all along she was going to side with S.H.I.E.L.D. She's seems to be a very conflicted character.

It was awesome seeing Coulson in the field. His issues with his gun (it was brought up twice) really get's you thinking that this isn't the "real" Coulson, something is just off about him. I'm glad agent May is getting back into the field as she can really kick some ass. I can't wait for them to reveal more of her character.

And just like last week.. I loved the last scene of tonight's episode. Did Agent Coulson inadvertently create the next super villain? Only time will tell. I can't wait for episode 4 next week.

My Gimpy Life Shoot: Day 1

Today is the first shoot day of My Gimpy Life Season Two. I've been with My Gimpy Life since the beginning. When Teal first came up with the idea for this webseries she asked me if I wanted to be part of it and I of course said yes. I offered my services as a podcaster and said I would love to do a CompanionCast for the webseries. This is similar to my popular Knights of the Guild, which is a CompanionCast for the webseries The Guild.

So were back for season two and I planned to be on set everyday doing interviews with cast and crew members. We're shooting four episodes in five days. Day one we were in Pasadena at a local coffee house. Teal was there of course as well as returning cast member Brent (who plays her roommate). We also were joined by several new cast members, Russell and Carlos.

Carlos was hilarious and a pleasure to interview for the podcast. Russell who is also one of the co-executive producers of this season was fantastic. We interviewed for a good 30 minutes, this is his first "significant" acting role and he nailed it.

Sometimes you meet people and you just have this feeling that you were meant to be friends, Russell and I just clicked.

It was a great shoot, we had this incredible craft service person Michelle who made us feel like we were on this high budget production. Even with one incident that could have shut down the shoot for the weekend, everyone remained calm, resolved the issue and moved on. I have to say this was one of  the smoothest shoots I've ever been on.  I'm looking forward to day two.

Ups & Downs of Home Ownership

So today the winds have finally died down and I planned to use my new paint sprayer and move one step closer to finishing my house painting. I first read all the user guides as this was the first time I was ever using a paint sprayer and I wanted to make sure I as doing it correctly. It all seemed simple enough so I did as directed and filled up the cup with paint and headed out to the garage. I decided to start with the back of the garage just in case this didn't go so well and I'm very thankful that I did.

As I was spraying the paint, it came out in like specks. Some places it was super thick and some it didn't cover at all. I figured I'll just have to do several passes to cover everything. But after several passes it looked like I was texturing the wall. I actually had to take a paint roller and go over the entire thing to smooth it out, and remove the excess paint. As I'm doing this I'm thinking to myself that this was a waste of time. I'm now doing double the work to get this painted and I fill like I waste a ton of paint.

About thirty minutes into the job the paint sprayer got clogged and that was the end of my painting day. It took me about an hour or so to pull everything apart and clean it out. I spent more time cleaning the sprayer then actually using it to paint. It could be that I got a "cheap" sprayer (it was $100), as there were a range of prices from $69 to $350. But this experience didn't turn out like I was hoping and so I'm going to go back to just hand painting my house, which of course means it's going to take me even longer :(

But even though the painting was a disaster I did manage to fix my irrigation system and it cost me very little money. I had called the company who installed it and the customer service person told me what she thought the problem was but after I got off the phone I checked what she had mentioned and it looked fine so I dug deeper into the website and read a bit more and then went out to the device and played around with it. I found this secret compartment that contained a 9 volt battery so I replaced it and viola it's working again. Months ago when it stopped working I figured it was just the battery but when I checked the device it had a power source and plugged into the wall so I figured that's where it was getting it's power but for some reason they battery was an intricate part of the system.

I was mad at myself for not deviling deeper into the problem months ago.. could have saved myself 3 months of watering my property by hand everyday. But I'm just happy that's one problem that I don't have to deal with again.

I also filled in a hole on the top of my roof. I noticed it a few weeks ago when I was up there painting. It looks like a bird (assuming my menacing wood pecker) made a hole right through the roof shingle. So I purchased a patching kit and some cocking asphalt to fill it up. This was probably the easiest of the house problem to fix. Took me about ten minutes and it was sealed and good to go.

I have set my goal for getting my house up on the market. I don't care if it's completely done or not it's going up come November 1st. I hope to at least have the outside of the house painting done. The deck and the minor inside stuff I can do in time but I need to sell this house ASAP.

Podcasting Team

Today I recorded six new episodes of my MASH 4077 Podcast. Unfortunately one of the co-hosts (Al) wasn't able to make it so it was just two of us (Meds and I) for four of the episodes. I did manage to get a third person (Don) to help us out on a few. He is a listener and fan of the podcast. He made a donation to the podcast which gave him the opportunity to co-host with us.  As always it's alot of fun, but with two hosts and not three we did manage to get through these podcasts alot quicker.

But Al was missed, he's the humor of the show, his back and forth banter with Meds is priceless. I'm not saying that the shows we recorded without him are going to be bad or not funny but he does bring alot of that to the show. You realized that the three of us make the prefect team.. maybe that's why our MASH podcast is getting more and more popular as time goes on.

Random Geek Question: Fav. LOTR Character

I asked another Random Geek Question today on Twitter and Facebook. Who's your favorite character from Lord of the Ring/Hobbit, book and movies? Are they same? Different?

I don't know if I just posted this at a bad time (the weekend) or folks don't like Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit. I'm thinking it was the timing but I only got three responses.

Carysabel74 tweeted... Team Gimli here. Lady Eowyn, Samwise, Merry and Pippin. Same in book and movie.

hjkuzcotopia tweeted...  Aragorn and Arwen.

jkeats tweeted... don't know if he's my favorite but I liked movie Aragorn better than book Aragorn. He felt more fleshed out as a character

And I just noticed that it didn't post to my Facebook page so that too might explain why not many people answered. Maybe I'll re-post this question during the week and see if I can get more responses. 

Anyways... For me it's Samwise, loved him in the book and loved him in the movies. I identify with Sam the most, to me he is the true hero of the Lord of the Rings story.

Let me know who is your favorite below...

Podcasting With My Brother

Today my brother and I record more of our Alien Nation podcast. Last month my brother wasn't able to make it so my buddy Doug stepped in to help me out and was great but there is something about the chemistry I have with my brother.. it's pretty awesome. We recorded the next two episodes (Oct and Nov).

The episode that will be released on Nov 10th will be for the final episode of the TV series as Alien Nation only lasted one season. But the podcast won't be over, luckily we got 5 additional TV movies, the theatrical release (the film that started it all) and a handful of comic books (6 mini series) and novels (7). We plane on doing a podcast for each one of these things, so the series might be over but we are far from ending this podcast.

But we  did talk about it and we know this podcast will end at some point in the future, I'm thinking mid 2015, early 2016 and when this happens we are planning to do a podcast the awesome alien invasion series V. It's one of our favorite childhood TV mini series and series. It was also revived a few years ago and we got another few seasons out of it. There are also about 15 novels and a 19 issue comic book series. So there is at the very least 5 years worth of podcasts (if we do one a month). We might even start that one sooner then later and do both Alien Nation and V together... who knows.

Needless to say the podcasting team of Michael and Kenny is far from over.

Random Geek Question: Favorite Captain

So I posted another Random Geek Question on Facebook and Twitter. I asked if you're a Star Trek fan, Who is your favorite Captain.

I have to say I was a bit surprised by the results. I knew Janeway, Sisco and Archer wouldn't get many votes but I really thought Kirk and Picard would be neck and neck. Well they weren't, one of these guys ran away with it. And that person was Captain Jean Luc Picard, he by far was the favorite. I got about 23 replies on Twitter and 2 on Facebook and I would say 75% of you said Picard, with 24% for Kirk and less then 1% for Janeway, Archer, Sisco and even Captain Jellico (who has to be my least favorite Captain of all of Trek).

Most of those who voted for Kirk didn't say he was the best but that he was the first Captain that they saw on Trek and there was a sentimental connection to him.

For Picard I got comments like... 

@BittenUsagi -  Picard. He was the perfect mix of calm & collected and badass. And sexy. Rawr. Lol.

@Autumnbuck - Picard for his strength of character and fidelity to his personal code

@dougluberts  Picard. Kirk was too much of a '60s/Cold War-type leading man (like 007.) Picard's values and character are more modern.

As for my favorite that's tough as I'm a huge Janeway fan but I do love Picard and if push came to shove I would have to pick Picard but Janeway a very close second.

Who is your favorite Star Trek Captain and why.. leave you comments down below.

"Get Fit" Week 9

So it's been a tough week all around. I was getting two workouts a day on the elliptical of at least 20 to 25 minutes each. This week I barely did 15 minutes once a day and I have no excuse.. it's just me being lazy. I also didn't eat that well, with my birthday surprise party on Friday evening and hanging out with friends on Saturday I just made poor choices when eating out. I have eaten out four times this week (Taco Bell, El Pollo Loco, Islands and Green Peas) and I'm really trying to limit that to only once a week.

I really feel like a broke record, I know what I'm eating is bad, I have an internal conversation/argument with myself every time I'm about to eat something that I know I shouldn't, and it only stops me 50% of the time. I knew this was going to be tough so I try and not beat myself down about it but I'm nine weeks in and I was hoping to be under 200lbs by now.

I weighted myself this morning like I do every Friday morning and I came in at 200lbs. I didn't lose any weight but on a positive note I didn't gain any wait.. feels pretty much like a wasted week.

But I'm once again going to try and reign in my "bad" eating habits and try to do at least 30 to 45 minutes of cardio/elliptical a day.  Let's hope next Friday has better result then today.

Moving Abroad

The past few years I have been toying with the idea of moving abroad. I think most of the time it's just a wishful thinking kind of thing.. but today I really had the urge to move. The though of me living in England or Ireland felt right. I was born and raised in Southern California, I'm 43 years old and I have never lived anywhere else. Once I sell the house I will have nothing tying me down here. The only hard part would be leaving my friends (you know who you are) and family (especially my niece and nephew). But I wouldn't want to live abroad forever. I was thinking of moving for a year or so just to experience a different lifestyle.

I think this is the perfect time in my life to do something like this. I've been feeling lost as of late and need some direction in life and I think this is it. Of course I need to sell the house, find a job and save up some money beforehand, so it's not like I'm going to be moving tomorrow but if I can get my life back in order I think I'll really look into making this happen. I'm gonna do a lot of research before I pick up everything and move half way around the world.

I do plan to vacation in England/Ireland in 2014. I'm going for a month and I think that will give me enough time to really get to know the place and determine if I want to live there or not.

It may never happen, life's funny and you never know which way fate will twist it but don't be surprise if you see a blog post in the near future titled "I'm Moving to England".

IT Finale, S.H.I.E.L.D Ep 2 & Best Man Down Review

Forgot to blog about this a few days ago so I figured I'd throw it in today's blog. A couple of days ago they aired the final episode of The IT Crowd. The IT Crowd is a British sitcom set in the London offices of the fictional Reynholm Industries, the show revolves around the three staff members of its IT department: a geeky genius named Maurice Moss, the workshy Roy Trenneman, and Jen Barber, the department head/Relationship Manager, who knows nothing about IT.

The series ran from 2006 to 2010 (4 seasons/series containing 6 episodes each). It ended back in 2010 and we thought that was going to be it. Well a few months back we got word that after a 3 year absence they were going to do a special "final" episode and it finally airing on September 27th in the UK. I of course not being in the UK had to find "other" means of locating the special as they have not announced if it's going to ever air here in the US.

I acquired it a few days ago and couldn't wait to watch it. I've seen it twice now and I really enjoyed it. It was funny, sweet and had lots of nods to previous episodes (the internet) and even some familiar faces like Richmond. I didn't even mind the "boss" in this episode.. normally he's the weakest part of the story in my opinion. It was great seeing these guys again after a 3 year hiatus and they are still as awkward and crazy funny as ever.

I'm glad they had the oppurtunity to officially "finish" the show and finish it well. Moss turning off the light at the very end was very poignant and a fitting end to this series.

I also watched the second episode of Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This has to be one of my most anticipated series along with Once Upon a Time. I loved the first episode and I couldn't wait for the second and I have to say they did not disappoint. Lot's of character building (the team is still trying to figure out how they all fit together). Lot's of action, which is always great and a lot of what I like to call "Joss" humor.

I really enjoy Coulson as a character and Simmons and Fits (still don't know if they are more like brother/sister or husband/wife relationship, but I'm leaning more towards brother and sister. But there is one character that I'm really enjoying and can't wait to hear more of her back story and that's Ming Na's character Melinda May. She is a major bad ass and we really don't know much about her, all we know is she is a hard core agent who asked to be taken out of the field for some reason which I'm sure will find out one day. She really reminds me of Black Widow who I really enjoyed in the movie.

As I'm doing this blog a few days later then the actual day of the blog I have already seen the ratings for the second episode and I have so say I'm disappointed. I mean the premiere episode did okay ratings but the second one dropped something like 20% which isn't good. I have heard people complain about the series but I really don't have a clue what they are complaining about. I love it and I hope it does better or at least holds up in the ratings so we can get a full season and hopefully many more afterwards.

During the evening instead of TV night with my best bud Robert we went out to dinner at Islands and then to a PGA pre-screening of a Justin Long's new movie called Best Man Down. Quick synopsis, A newlywed couple cancels their honeymoon and returns to the snowy Midwest to make the funeral arrangements for their best man, who died unexpectedly after their ceremony. What they find out is that they didn't really know who their friend was.

I have liked Justin Long ever since he did Galaxy Quest so when I read the description of this movie I thought it was going to be a light comedy. Well it was really a Dramady. There were some funny moments but it really was more of a drama. As you learn about this "best man" and the life he was leading you slowly put the piece of the puzzle together until the very end were it's all laid out for you and you get that... oh that's why he did this.. or now I understand why he did that. This movie had alot of sweet moments mixed in with some very tense and emotional moments. I only cried at the end when the mom said a line about her son (the one who died). That she was afraid that he would never find someone to love and that in return would never be loved.. Oh that just broke my heart and the tears started to flow.

It's not a crazy action packed movie, it's a nice simple story about love, compassion and surviving life. I give Best Man Down a nice solid B+

Hobbit Trailer & Playing Injustice: Gods Among Us

Peter Jackson released a new trailer for part 2 of the Hobbit series, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. I know this is a shocker but the more I see of this the more excited I am for it. This was a full trailer and jam packed with lots of goodies. My favorite comes towards the end when Smaug speaks. Besides seeing what Smaug looks like which we got in the last trailer everyone wanted to know what he would sound like and we got that in this trailer and it's perfect. Benedict Cumberbatch is going the voice of Smaug so we knew it would be good but oh man they nailed it (at least in my opinion, which all that matters on this blog). It's only a few months away, but until then check out the awesome trailer for The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.

During the evening I went to hang out with my friends Jen and Will. Will made some very tasty chili for dinner and the three of us played my new Xbox game (that Will got me for my birthday) Injustice: Gods Among Us. If you don't know what this game is.. it's a fighting game based upon the fictional universe of DC Comics. We had a blast, it's only a two player game but the third player would play the winner of each round and none of us really dominated so we all got to play quite a bit. We played until about 12:30am but we could have played all night if these guys didn't have to work the next morning.

I just read the wiki page for this game and there is a really good storyline in it. So far we've only seen a little bit. What I like about this game is you could play the story that they have planned or you could just fight each other and have no ties to the story what so ever. I think for what we did the just fight was best as for the storyline it looks to be a single player game. I do plan to actually play out the storyline.

This is just a small portion of the plot.. you can read the rest HERE.

In an alternate reality, the Joker has tricked Superman into killing Lois Lane and their unborn son and destroying Metropolis with a nuclear explosion. In retaliation, Superman murders the Joker and quickly loses his moral compass. He establishes a new world order as the High Councilor. A war ensues between the forces of Superman's Regime and those allied with Batman's Insurgency. Five years into the war, the Insurgency discovers the Justice League's universe where the Joker's plan did not succeed and transports several of its super heroes (Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern, with Batman and the Joker being caught up in the transfer by accident) to their world in order to help them defeat the Regime. Batman and the Joker are confronted by the Regime in a dystopian-like Metropolis, but Batman uses his gear to help them both escape and go their separate ways.

TV Reviews: Mom, Brooklyn Nine-Nine & We Are Men

Today I watched some more new TV series and I am going to give you my thoughts on them. First up was Mom, From hit-maker Chuck Lorre comes his next big comedy‐an irreverent and outrageous take on true family love‐and dysfunction. Newly sober single mom Christy struggles to raise two children in a world full of temptations and pitfalls. Testing her sobriety is her formerly estranged mother, now back in Christy's life and eager to share passive-aggressive insights into her daughter's many mistakes.

The reason I actually even wanted to watch this series was because of Allison Janney, who I loved from The West Wing. But it also stars Anna Faris who I find very funny. I've seen two episodes so far and it's funny, it's not "must see" funny but I laughed out loud several times during the show. It's not a role I could ever imagine Allison doing as I'm use to seeing her in the more serious drama roles but she is funny. If times gets restricted this series would probably fall to the waste side but for now I'll continue to watch and laugh at Mom.

Another new comedy that I watched is called Brooklyn Nine-Nine, this series is an ensemble comedy about what happens when a talented, but carefree, detective and his diverse group of colleagues get a new captain with a lot to prove.

It stars Adam Samberg who is hilarious in Saturday Night Live. I missed the pilot as I wasn't really that interested in this but I do watch Dads and this series airs after and my DVR captured a few minutes of the first episode and it caught my attention so I recorded the next episode and just watched it. It's funny but like with most comedies this TV season, it's not a "must see" TV for me. I'll continue to watch but if I need to drop any TV this year this would go first.

I also watched We Are Men, this series is about four single guys living in a short-term apartment complex who unexpectedly find camaraderie over their many missteps in love. Carter, the youngest and most recent addition to the group, moved in after being ditched at the altar mid-ceremony, and is now eager to re-enter the dating scene and get on with his life with some guidance from his "band of brothers": Frank Russo, a successful middle-aged clothing manufacturer and four-time divorcée who still fancies himself a ladies man; Gil Bartis, a small business owner who was caught having the world's worst affair; and Stuart Weber, a speedo-wearing OB/GYN who's hiding his assets until his second divorce is settled. Armed with a hot tub, pool-side barbeque and plenty of questionable advice, these losers in the marriage department take Carter under their wing to impart their own brand of wisdom about the opposite sex.

I wanted to watch this one because it stars Jerry O'Connell but I have to say I wasn't impressed with the pilot. I liked all the male bonding and all the bros stuff but I didn't think it was funny. As with most new series I'll give them three or four episodes before I decide to drop it or not.. but as of right now the jury is still out on We Are Men.

Geeky Tattoos

I've always liked tattoos and knew that I was going to get one, one of these days. My problem was that I couldn't pick what I wanted on my body for the rest of my life. In my 30's I decided I was going to combine four of my loves into one tattoo. That sounds good in theory but in practicality that wasn't a good idea as the tattoo would have to be huge to see all the details. So instead I opted for one tattoo each for my four loves, which are Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. So at age 40 I got my first tattoo and loved it. Subsequently every year after I have gotten another one. 40 was Harry Potter, 41 was Star Wars, 42 was Lord of the Rings and now that I'm 43 it's time for another one which will be Star Trek.

I thought that would be it, I'd have those four and call it quits but I haven't even gotten my fourth one yet and I'm planning a fifth, sixth, seventh and possibly eighth tattoo.

I'm a huge Firefly fan so I thought about getting a Firefly tattoo. I'm also a big Superman fan, always have been, so Superman is on my list and recently I saw a special on E.T. and it brought back such great memories when I was kid that I decided I want an E.T. tattoo as well.

My buddy Robert and I have been talking about getting a "matching" tattoo that represents our geeky friendship. We might go with something Firefly so that would take care of two tattoos for me in one go but I'm willing to get an eighth one if we decide to not go with a Firefly themed one.

Getting tattoos is like a drug, you become addicted to them. They are pieces of art that you carry around with you. They represent who you are as a person (at least they do for me). I don't know if I'll be getting all these planned tattoos or not, all I know is I love being a geek and seeing it represented on my body everyday is AWESOME!!!!

MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 63

Download from itunes tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes , listen on Stitcher Radio ow.ly/iZJIz or Listen, get direct download from our main website MASH4077Podcast.com 

Show Notes

Kenny Mittleider from Knights of the Guild, Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast & Confessions of a Fanboy Podcast, Simon Meddings from Waffle On Podcast, Al Kessel from Tales from the Mouse House, Fast Forward & Just Because Podcast & special guest listener co-host Ryan Patrick discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H

Today we cover Season 3, Episode #15 - Bombed

63rd Episode Overall
Directed by Hy Averback
Written by Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum
Production code B320
Original air date January 7, 1975

Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s

Plot Summary: While Radar tries to stop the camp from being shelled by their own artillery, Frank finds a wounded enemy soldier wired to explode, Margaret and Trapper get stuck in a supply shed and Henry and Father Mulcahy get blown up in the latrine.

Wonder Women & Doctor Who

Here's a mixed blog post today.. some geeky things, some personal things.

First up geeky.. if you haven't seen this yet my friend Rileah Vanderbilt is playing Wonder Woman in this short teaser concept trailer. Other friends America Young and Clare Grant are also in this short. Rainfall films wanted to prove that Wonder Woman can be done right for either TV or movie and I think they nailed it. I love the look of Wonder Woman, the style of that world. I like that they showed us her in "our" world and her homeworld. The effect were amazing and the fighting scenes were well made. Check it out for yourself.. you won't be disappointed.

 

I've been wanting to continue to paint the outside of my house but we've had gusty winds the past week and using a paint sprayer in a wind storm isn't smart but today I went out and painted by hand with a roller and brush. I only lasted a half hour before I had to come in and get out of the heat. I did go back out later in the evening for another hour or so to finish up what I started earlier. Still have lots to go but I'm hoping the winds die down so I can rent that paint sprayer. 

My best friend Chris texted me that he was about to get on his plane for his deployment overseas. It's going to rough not seeing him for six months. I mean it was hard enough when he was re-stationed to Montana but at least I was able to visit him and he could visit me. Him being overseas makes that impossible. Luckily he's not going into a combat area but still nowhere is truly safe over there. All we can do is keep happy thoughts and wish him well. Once he's settled in he'll be giving me his address so I can send him some care packages (which I'm really looking forward to). Hopefully six months will fly by and he'll be back with us in no time. 

I spent a good chunk of the day watching some Doctor Who specials. I've been recording them since the beginning of the year. Each one focus' on a certain Doctor. They started with the first doctor in January, second doctor in February and so on. I have recorded the first nine doctors so far. They haven't aired the 10th or 11th yet. Each one has interviews with Doctor Who actors and creators, some from the actual time period that's being covered. They created these in honor of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary.

I wasn't the biggest Doctor Who fan, I had seen episodes here and there from the Tom Baker (fourth doctor) era, but really didn't get into it until it was rebooted with the 9th doctor Christopher Eccleston. 

I really enjoyed this retrospectives. I learned alot about each doctor and their companions.They even had episodes from that doctor that aired after the special. I didn't watch the episodes as I hate watching things out of order but I hope to one day go back and start at the beginning of Who. 

Best Friends & Neverland

I finally got to talk (over the phone) to my best friend Chris. He's being deployed overseas and has been extremely busy getting ready. Since Chris and I met a few years ago we have talked/texted/Skyped/Messaged each other almost everyday but the past two weeks we've only "texted/messaged" a few times and I've been really missing him. But today we actually got on the phone and talked for over an hour and 15 minutes.. it was AWESOME.

Unfortunately he had gotten very sad news in the morning so we talked about that for a bit before talking about what's been going on in our lives the past few weeks. We don't know how things will be once he is overseas so this might be the last time I get to talk to him for six months (at least over the phone) so we made every minute count. It was great to hear his voice and catch up.

After talking to Chris I moved onto TV. Tonight Once Upon a Time season 3 was to premiere. But first they aired a really cool recap show called "Journey To Neverland"

After the recap I got to watch Ep 1 of Season 3, if you're a regular reader of my blog you know I love Once Upon A Time and I have been really looking forward to this. (SPOILERS) The episode started with Henry being born in the prison. I liked the lights flickering and going out at the moment of Henry's birthday (Magic). My heart broke when Emma refused to even look at baby Henry. We then go to Hook's ship with our main casts arriving in Neverland.

There were some fun moments in this episode like when Neal is talking to Mulan about "our world" and how there is a movie about her. Or Hook making a snide remark about Rumpelstiltskin changing clothes all the time. And Regina making a comment to Snow about fixing everything with “rainbow kisses and unicorn stickers”.

Once Rumple was back in Neverland you could see The Dark One reemerging. We find out that he has had dealings with Peter Pan before.

It was good to see the Enchanted Forrest and Aurora, Prince Phillip, Mulan and Robin Hood (played by a different actor then last season). I hope we get to see Storybrooke soon. 

Emma's got more spunk than ever and the take charge mentality suits her. She rally's the team together when things seem to be falling apart. She also had my favorite line in the episode "The way we succeed in getting Henry back, is just by being who we are, a Hero, a Villain, a Pirate. It doesn't matter which as we are going to need all these skills weather we can stomach them or not."

I enjoyed the mermaids, I like that they are "evil" or at least the attackers.

I liked Henry and the lost boy he was running with until the twist which I didn't see coming. The lost boy was actually Peter Pan. I like that he's very different from the original. He's the mastermind behind this entire plan. He wants Henry's heart as Henry is a true believer.

I was happy that they killed off Greg and Tamara. I never really liked these characters. Greg gets his "soul" ripped out by that black shadow thing and Tamara is shot by a arrow but you find out she doesn't die. Rumple find her and heals her only to rip her heart out and kill her.... so good.

I really enjoyed this episode and I can't wait for episode 2... so happy Once Upon A Time is back!!!

Breakfast, Movies, TV & Roller Derby

I don't sleep well when I'm not in my own bed, so I was up around 7am after going to bed around 2:30am. I laid there for another hour or so before I actually got up. Those that had crashed the night before were all waking up... except Barbara... man that girl can sleep through anything.

Once we were up a few of us headed out to breakfast. Joining me, was Robert, Cait, Rupert, Donna and Aaron. We went to a local diner called NoHo Diner. We enjoyed a much needed breakfast, this place has some of the best breakfast in North Hollywood.

Once we were done we headed back to Will's but he was still sleeping. We said our goodbyes and headed out. I was going back to Robert's as we had plans tonight.

Once back at his place, Cait, Robert and I watched "This is the End". We had never seen it and all wanted to when it was in the theater. Here's a brief synopsis of the story: All Jay Baruchel expected coming to LA was a fun time with Seth Rogen with all the wild partying to have both by themselves and at James Franco's housewarming party. Suddenly, the Rapture hits and the Biblical Apocalypse has begun. Now, Jay and Seth are desperately sheltering in James' house for rescue along with a few other friends. Together, they must band together to attempt to survive the end of the world, only for Jay to find that they are all too dumb and superficial to do it until they discover the only way out.

My review; It was pretty much what I expected. A bit to raunchy at times, extremely stupid at times but also very funny and heartwarming. One of my favorite parts was seeing all the stars during the party scene at the beginning. Of course 95% of them die when the apocalypse begins. And as you can guess one of my favorite scene was with Emma Watson who plays Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies. I liked that they figured out how to get into heaven. Franco sacrificing himself for his friend and being taken up to heaven but of course he has to taunt the bad guys with the finger and foul language and the light disappears and he drops back to Earth only to be eaten by the bad guys. The end when Jay was being taken and Seth was going to sacrifice himself to save Jay had me tear up a little bit. It just reminded me of what you would do for your very best friend.

Overall it was an okay movie, it's not something I need to buy or will watch over and over again. For what it was, it was entertaining and I give it a solid B.

After the movie Cait took a nap as Robert and I went out to Taco Bell for some lunch. Once back we watched Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot, as Robert had not seen it yet and this was going to be my third time in a week. I didn't care as I really enjoyed the pilot episode and it was fun watching with Robert.

After S.H.I.E.L.D. we continued our first time viewing of Babylon 5. We watched Season 2, episode 13 "Hunter, Prey" A fugitive doctor on the run from the Earth Alliance is on Babylon 5, but when Captain Sheridan learns the reasons why, the race is on to find him before Earthforce Security can seize him.

I really enjoyed this episode, we didn't see many of the alien main characters in this episode. We find out that Sheridan is more involved with this "special" group then we first thought. He's actively working against the Earth government, which made me happy as we know they are not on the up and up. I liked the pairing of Garibaldi and Doctor Franklin. We see some movement with Sheridan's relationship with Kosh. Hopefully will find out more info about Kosh and who he and his people are. Over all it was a very entertaining episode.

It was now time to head out, Robert, Cait and I went over to Tamar's place and waited for Cici. Tamar has the most adorable little doggie Max. Once Cici joined us we were off to dinner at a local restaurant called Green Peas. 

Once done with dinner we headed to down town Los Angeles for some roller derby. I had never been to a roller derby but have seen it on TV and movies before. I was super excited to be going. This is an all female banked track roller derby event put on by the Los Angeles Derby Dolls. Tonight's team were Sirens vs Fight Crew. I knew nothing about the rules when it started but after a few rounds I started to understand what was happening and really started getting into the game. It was a blast and something I can see doing again in the near future.

After roller derby we headed back to Robert's place, I got in my car and came home for a much needed good night sleep.

Thanks Robert for making this a pretty awesome two days.

Birthday Surprise!!!!

Tonight I headed over to my buddy Robert's place as we were going to a stage show out in North Hollywood. Got to his place a bit early so we watched an episode of Babylon 5  from S2 Episode 12 "Acts of Sacrifice" Here's a brief description... The escalating Narn-Centauri War begins to have strong repercussions for Babylon 5 as G'Kar asks Sheridan for Earth Force help in the war, and a diplomatic dilemma with the Lumati spells trouble for Ivanova.

A really good episode, my heart just broke for G'Kar and once again my dislike for Londo grew. I figured fights would start happening between the Narn and the Centauri aboard Babylon 5. The Centauri people are just horrible. I didn't feel any pity when the Narn caught the "Centauri ring leader" and killed him. I liked that G'Kar had to fight the "leader" of the Narn group to regain his influence over them. The whole Ivanova story line was hilarious, her "sex" with the Lumati was just to much.. both Robert and I couldn't stop laughing. Over all not much happen with the main story arc (Shadow Wars) but lots with the Narn-Centauri war. And Londo redeemed himself a bit when he didn't press any charges to the Narn who killed the Centauri ring leader... Continuing to love this series.

We then headed out to North Hollywood, we had to stop by our friend Will's place to pick up the tickets as there was an issue with getting tickets online so Will went to the box office and got us our tickets.

Got to Wills and went up the stairs, knocked on his door and was greeted by a loud roar of SURPRISE!!!! and a slew of confetti from "party poppers".  The "stage show" that Robert had invited me to was all a ruse to get me to Will's for a surprise birthday party.

They had a make your own taco/burrito bar, alcohol and fun music. We ate, drank and danced the night away. Since I was not driving I was finally able to partake in some shots. Over a four hour period I did 5 shots of Butterscotch Schnapps and another 5 shots of Fireball Whiskey. Surprisingly I wasn't drunk, I was feeling great but not drunk. Towards the end of the night, I'd say 1am I wasn't feeling so hot so I sat out on the porch by myself for an hour or so. The party finally wind down around 2am and I crashed on the couch and was asleep by 2:30am

I had the best time, Thanks to Will and Robert for putting this all together and to all those who attended. Brett, Jen, Jes, Dallas, Donna, Rupert, Aaron, Cait, Tamar, Babara and Becca. It was a blast.